§27-27-29. Principal place of business and home office of domestic insurers; maintenance of assets in state; removal of records or assets; exceptions.

(a) Every domestic insurer shall have, and maintain, its principal place of business and home office in this state and shall keep in this state complete records of its assets, transactions, and affairs in accordance with such methods and systems as are customary or suitable as to the kind, or kinds, of insurance transacted.

(b) Every domestic insurer shall have, and maintain, its assets in this state, or in a financial institution conducting business in this state except as to:

(1) Real property and personal property appurtenant to the real property lawfully owned by the insurer and located outside this state.

(2) The property of the insurer as may be customary, necessary, and convenient to enable and facilitate the operation of its branch offices and regional home offices located outside this state as referred to in subsection (d).

(3) Having, depositing, or transmitting funds and assets of the insurer in, or to, a jurisdiction outside of this state as required by the law of the jurisdiction or as reasonably required in the course of its business, including the retention of funds, assets, personal property, or securities in a depository outside the State of Alabama for purposes of safekeeping or for the convenient operation of the insurer.

(c) Removal of all, or a material part of, the records or assets of a domestic insurer from this state except pursuant to a plan of merger or consolidation approved by the commissioner under this title, or for such reasonable purposes and periods of time as may be approved by the commissioner in writing in advance of the removal, or concealment of the records or assets, or material part of the records or assets, from the commissioner is prohibited. Any person who removes, or attempts to remove, such records or assets, or such material part of the records or assets, from the home office or other place of business or of safekeeping of the insurer in this state with the intent to remove the records or assets from this state or who conceals or attempts to conceal the records or assets from the commissioner, in violation of this section, shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a felony, punishable by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by imprisonment in the penitentiary for not more than five years, or by both the fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court. Upon any removal or attempted removal of the records or assets or upon retention of the records or assets, or material part thereof, outside this state beyond the period therefor specified in the consent of the commissioner under which the records were so removed thereat or upon concealment of, or attempt to conceal, records or assets in violation of this section, the commissioner may institute delinquency proceedings against the insurer pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 32 of this title.

(d) This section may not be deemed to prohibit or prevent an insurer from:

(1) Establishing and maintaining branch offices or regional home offices in other states where necessary or convenient for the transaction of its business and keeping therein the detailed records and assets customary and necessary for the servicing of its insurance in force and affairs in the territory served by such an office, as long as such records and assets are made readily available at the office for examination by the commissioner or at his or her request.

(2) Using custodial arrangements for the holding of securities owned by the insurer, either in or outside of this state, and either segregated from or commingled with securities owned by others, if the arrangements conform to rules adopted by the commissioner for safeguarding the assets and facilitating the examination by the commissioner of insurers using the custodial arrangements.

(e) With the written permission of the commissioner, a domestic insurer may maintain its executive offices outside the State of Alabama and keep there complete records of its assets, transactions, and affairs in accordance with the methods and systems as are customary or suitable for the kind or kinds of insurance transacted. All records kept at the executive offices outside Alabama shall be made available to the commissioner of Alabama upon reasonable notice by the commissioner.

(f) This section shall not apply to those actions taken by insurance companies prior to January 1, 1972, but only applies to future actions of domestic insurance companies.

(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, any company may evidence ownership of its assets by use of a clearing corporation or book-entry deposit system.

(Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §525; Acts 1975, No. 218, p. 744, §1; Acts 1981, No. 81-541, p. 904, §3; Act 2010-685, p. 1655, §1; Act 2012-370, p. 921, §1.)